A winter-type nor'easter is forecast to bring a period of heavy rain and strong winds to the region Saturday night into early Sunday morning

A winter-type nor'easter is forecast to bring a period of heavy rain and strong winds to the region Saturday night into early Sunday morning. There is a high probability for a widespread 1-2 inches of rainfall region-wide, with a low risk that a few locations could receive up to 3 inches of rain. East winds will become strong Saturday night across the Cape and Islands with sustained speeds of 25 to 35 MPH and gusts up to 45 MPH possible.

Forecast certainty should increase overnight as new observational and model data come in, and greater detail on forecast rainfall and wind speeds should be available by early Saturday morning.

For a complete local forecast visit our media partner, WCVB.

Impacts:

· Rainfall totals closer to 3 inches would likely result in localized street and highway flooding, especially in the Boston - Providence corridor including Fall River and New Bedford.

· If 3 inches of rainfall does occur, streams and rivers may need to be monitored for possibly approaching bank-full conditions, particularly the Shawsheen River at Wilmington.

· Trees are partially to fully leaved across the Cape and Islands. If wind gusts approach 40 to 45 MPH, they may be strong enough to take down some small tree limbs resulting in a low risk of isolated power outages.

· Although there will be some surge (1.5 to 2 feet Sunday afternoon) and wave action (possibly 10 to 15 feet on Sunday), the progressiveness of the storm system prevents the values from getting dangerously high, and the astronomical high tide cycles this weekend are relatively low. At this time, total water levels are not expected to be sufficient to bring waves close enough to shore to cause significant coastal flooding or beach erosion. At worst, this storm is anticipated to cause a few pockets of minor erosion.

Stay informed

Utilize Massachusetts Alerts to receive emergency notifications and information from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service. Massachusetts Alerts is a free app that is available for Android and iPhones. To learn more about Massachusetts Alerts, and for information on how to download the free app onto your smartphone, visit: www.mass.gov/mema/mobileapp

Utilize MEMA’s real-time power outage viewer to stay informed about current power outages in your community and region, and across the state, including information from utility companies about restoration times: http://mema.mapsonline.net/public.html

Utilize MEMA’s live weather radar and forecasting tools, including the live snowfall forecast map: http://memamaps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=0da6e4d888b74317b52b7a5064aa3dc2